


A Flame in Winter

by Halo793



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, F/M, Past Relationship(s), Relationship(s), Romance, i havent written in a long time, im the shittiest of all the taggers, so go easy on me at first
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-29
Updated: 2015-10-01
Packaged: 2018-04-11 20:17:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4450769
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Halo793/pseuds/Halo793
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eight beige folders were slapped onto a shiny black table, the sound startled the group to attention. The few who weren’t seated yet found their spots and began thumbing through the thick file.</p><p>“Mission?” Natasha Romanov asked as she took her place next to Clint Barton.</p><p>“Not exactly,”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Is This A Mission?

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in so long. so its going to start out pretty mediocre until I get back into the swing of things.

Eight beige folders were slapped onto a shiny black table, the sound startled the group to attention. The few who weren’t seated yet found their spots and began thumbing through the thick file. 

“Mission?” Natasha Romanov asked as she took her place next to Clint Barton.

“Not exactly,” was Nick Fury’s response as he activated the interactive screen filled with much of the same information as the files.

A grainy image of a woman took up the upper left side of the page. No name was listed, only alias’ in quotation marks. As the screen flipped through profiles, they followed along in their files. At least three dozen profiles all attributed to the same person.

“No name, age, nationality, recent location… these time periods range back to when people started making these sort of files… how do you expect us to find this girl?” Clint asked.

“We’re not finding her,” Bruce Baner spoke from the back, his nose buried in the paperwork, he had skipped to the end, “We’re baby-sitting…”

“Well, yes and no,” Fury started, “This is the last she was seen in public,”

Blurry surveillance footage came up on the big screen showing two large men shoving a girl into an alley. Their intentions became clear quickly when one man pulled out a knife and the other started tearing at the girl’s clothes. When the girl fell to the ground the man with the knife started kicking her. Suddenly, the street lights shattered and in the few seconds it took for the camera to switch to night vision the scene had changed dramatically. A small hooded woman stood in front of the beaten girl. She held one man down with her foot on his throat and with her hand held out in the direction of the other man. Following the direction of her hand the second man was dangling mid-air. She turned her hand into a fist and the man’s guts seemed to spill from his body as his torso was crushed. He fell to the ground as she dropped her hand. The one under her foot was unconscious so she went to aid the girl, picking up bits of clothes and gathering the spilled contents of her purse. Finding the girl’s shirt irreparable, the woman pulled a long scarf from the pocket of her hoodie before taking off the sweater and offering it to the girl. Once the shaken girl had the sweatshirt on, the woman quickly wrapped the scarf around her head, hiding her dark hair and skin. She looked up and her dark eyes spotted the camera and stared for a moment before she swiped her hand and the footage turned to static.

“That was about eight months ago,”

“Why are we only seeing this now?” Steve asked.

“We kept surveillance on her as she didn’t seem to be a threat,”

“Not a threat?! She just ‘Darth Vader’d that guy!” Clint spoke up.

“Right,” Fury stated, “Well, we kept tabs on her. Seems she’s telekinetic and just as unsure as we are about how far she can go. Last footage we have of her is three days ago. In the Nevada desert she… well… there was an explosion similar to that of an atomic bomb. Destroyed one of our drones. When the drone stopped relaying video we sent a team to extract her. She should be on her way here now.”

“A bomb? How the hell did she survive?” Steve asked.

“Well, we think she’s the one that caused it,”

The room was silent for a moment before Bruce spoke, “Will it be safe with her here?”

“She’ll be isolated. Interaction is entirely voluntary,” Fury replied.

“I mean, do we have the equipment to contain her?”

Bucky Barnes only half listened as he stared at the picture on the file. Those feline eyes and sharp cheekbones seemed so familiar. 

“When will she be here?” Bucky spoke up and the other conversations stopped.

“She should be here in…” 

The door opened and two armed shield agents escorted her in. 

“Well, now, apparently,” Fury finished.

She was small, unthreatening in stark contrast to the large bolded warnings in her file. Her inky hair was in tight long braids tipped with gold beads and fell around her shoulders, framing her face making her bronze skin glow. Eyes of a wild cat scanned the room of strangers slowly. Golden eyes ringed with black left almost no white sclera and her pupils were vertical, just like a cat. She seemed disturbingly calm for someone in a room of heros. Her hands were cuffed tightly in front of her and pointed black nails tipped each finger. She was dressed neutrally; a tattered grey button up shirt, holey jeans tucked into well-worn black boots. Gold bands lined her arms and a gold chain wrapped around her neck. After her eyes had swept the room they went back to Bucky and lingered on him for a moment, catching his gaze and holding it.

Captain America was the first to move, stepping forward to shake her hand, “Steve Rodgers,”

She stepped back lifting her cuffed hands in front of her like claws and her lip curled as if she would growl, her escorting officers grabbed either of her elbows as she tucked her chin and glared under her lashes. Steve quickly retracted his hand and shuffled back again. Fury nodded to the officers who then led her from the room and down the hall to the room that would be hers. 

“Barnes, you’re floor guard on her for now.” Fury stated.

Bucky nodded once and left the room to catch up with the escorts.

“You know these are useless, right?” he heard her say to one of the guards as she held up her hands and shook the chains.

“Agents!?” he called out as he caught up, “What’s her destination?”

“42B,”

“I’m headed that way, I can take her from here,”

“I don’t know if-“

“I got it,” Bucky reiterated as he took her bag from one of the men. They reluctantly agreed.

As they rounded the corner she lifted her hands and the cuffs popped off and fell to the floor, “What the hell are you doing here?!” she hissed.

“Me?! I live here! What are you doing here?” he snapped back as he threw her duffle bag into her arms and started to lead the way.

“Got nabbed by the surly old cyclops and his gang yesterday…” she said before her voice got quiet, “Don’t remember much,”

“File says you’re on lockdown for a few days. It has me listed as your floor watch,” he looked at her out the corner of his eye, “They even got you on video. Must be losing your touch, there, Kitten,”

They came to her door and he punched in the code to open it. Once inside the doorway she turned to him, “I’m not losing anything,” she lifted her hand and a force pushed him against the wall in the hallway, “And don’t call me that,” she shut the door that clicked shut from the outside.

He was left alone in the hallway, chewing his lip to bite back a smirk and rubbing the back of his head where it hit the wall. After letting out a long sigh he made his way back to the meeting with his hands in his pockets. As he got closer he could hear the questions being tossed around the room.

“There’s over three dozen profiles here. How do we know who this girl is? Where’d she come from?” Clint asked.

“She’s Egyptian,” Bucky said as he reentered the room. He flopped into a seat toward the front of the room, “She – uh – well I don’t know all of the details… but she’s a hell of a lot older than either of us,” he motioned between Steve and himself.

“You know her?” Natasha questioned. Bucky only nodded.

“There’s a time gap here in the profiles… fits the time the Winter Soldier went missing for a few years,” Bruce said.

Bucky continued nodding, “Yeah, in – uh – in the mid 50’s she managed to get me out. Back when I still had some idea of who I was… when I was harder for Hydra to control. She took care of me. We were together almost 8 years when Hydra caught up,”

“She was able to avoid Hydra for that long?” Steve was impressed.

“Oh, no,” Bucky only laughed, “She’s never been caught by them. It was me that slipped up,”

“Well, she slipped up now if we’ve got her,” Clint said leaning back in his seat.

“No,” Bucky’s voice was low, “No, she’s right where she wants to be,”

“What do you mean?” Steve leaned forward with his elbows on his knees.

“These pictures? That video?” Bucky motioned to the big screen, “She wanted us to have them. She’s worked freelance for every agency you could think of. KGB, CIA, Israeli special ops, Saudi Assassins, you name it she’s probably been part of it. She knows better than to get caught like this. Avoiding capture for a few thousand years isn’t easy,” 

“Do we even have a name?” Natasha asked, thumbing through her file again.

Bucky mimicked Steve’s position, leaned forward on his knees, as he looked down at his hands fidgeting together, “When I knew her she was Kosey… spelled with a ‘k’,”

“Egyptian for ‘lion’, right?” Bruce asked. Bucky only nodded in a jerky motion without looking up.

“You were together 8 years… what kind of ‘together’,” Clint raised one eyebrow as he posed the question. Bucky chuckled a little before sighing and running his fingers through his hair.

He shrugged, “Together… in every way you can be, I guess,”

The group could practically see all of the half remembered moments that were rushing through his mind as he stared at the floor. He sat wringing his hands and chewing the inside of his cheek. The group stayed quiet for a while, sharing concerned glances with one another. 

“Buck,” Steve said softly to get his attention, “Are you good to be guard tonight? I can take it…”

“What? No, no… yeah, I’m good. I can do it,” he assured before looking around the group at the unsure faces, “I can! I’ll be fine. Just, reminiscing and all… it’ll be fine,” they stayed quiet, “Quit lookin’ at me like a damn kid stayin’ home alone for the first time!”

“Alright, alright,” Steve consented, “If you say you’re good then its good enough for me,”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> still trying to get back my writing skills.

After hours of trying to sleep, Kosey gave in and sat up. The only thing that would calm her mind would be to become familiar with this new place. She rubbed her face as she stood up. She had already mapped her room in her mind so she went to the door, unlocking it without lifting a finger.   
Her golden eyes scanned the darkness as she felt her way down the hallway, sending pulses of energy like sonar. She moved along effortlessly, legs bent slightly as she glided about a foot above the floor, carrying herself. She wanted to know where she fit in this space, making note of every light switch and doorknob.   
Another pulse alerted her to something about a dozen feet behind her; it hadn’t been there a moment ago. Without hesitation she threw it against the wall, and only when she heard a grunt and the clink of metal did she turn to look.

“Oh,” was her version of an apology as she released her stalker and continued forward.

“Can’t sleep,” it was more of a statement than a question, because Bucky knew. Decades on the run make for deep set habits.

“Couldn’t sleep my first week or more,” he continued, “Just… wandered,”

He walked beside her as she floated along, “Of course, I had lighter security,” his voice turned serious, “How’d you get past me?” no one had gotten past him in decades. 

“James,” she sighed, she never used his nickname, “Things about me have changed. There are things about me that others do not know and there are two possible reasons; either they have no need in knowing, or I have no want in them knowing,”

“Which pertains to me?”

“Both,”

He chuckled, she hadn’t changed as much as she wanted him to think. Still as armored as ever; but he already knew that armor was thin as egg shells. He felt electricity crackle through his body making him shiver.

“Quit scanning me,” he grumbled before thinking for a moment, “What do you feel when you do that?”

“Your heart and left lung are pushed two centimeters to the right because of your prosthetic… which has a rough spot in the inside bicep and it’s been rubbing your side causing irritation,”

“Why’d you do it?”

“Do what?” her voice was smooth in his ears. As clean and silky as her hovering movements.

“Scan me,”

She was quiet for a moment as she looked away from him, “You had a few irregular heartbeats and your respiration changed… I was worried,”

They didn’t speak the rest of the way down the hall. When they came to the kitchen the automated lights flickered on and she touched her feet to the floor, walking the rest of the way into the kitchen.

“Why are you following me? Don’t you trust me, James?” she asked softly as she pushed herself up onto the counter and sat with her legs crisscrossed. 

A noise in the cupboard beside him drew his attention as he replied, “You know I’m your floor watch,” a jar of peanut butter slipped out of the shelf and landed in her lap.

“And this is a task you believe you can accomplish?” she smirked, unscrewing the lid.

“Of course, I’m the best,” there was no cockiness in his voice, simply the statement of a fact.

“The best?” he nodded once, “and yet I’ve made it past you,”

“Once,”

“That you know of,”

“It won’t happen again,”

“So you think,”

He sighed and leaned back against the counter across from her, about ten feet away. She smirked, dipping one finger into the jar and licking it clean again like a cat cleaning its paw. He shook his head with a chuckle, she always loved peanut butter.   
They looked at each other for a while, in total silence. Her white sleep shirt and shorts were a stark contrast to her rosewood colored skin. The wide neck of her shirt hung off one shoulder. Her ankles were adorned with the same golden bands as her arms. He stood with his arms crossed over his grey t-shirt. Red flannel sleep pants hung low on his hips.

“What about that time in ’58 when I snuck up on you in the shower,” she questioned with a smile, “You screamed like a little girl,”

“That doesn’t count!” he snapped, trying to be angry, but smiling too much to be taken seriously. Shaking his head he looked down at his feet and chuckled and heard her doing the same.   
She sighed contentedly as she glanced around the room. She felt much safer with him there to keep watch… even though he was supposed to be there for the comfort of the others. The breakfast bar counter she was sitting on separated the kitchen from the dining room. They had walked through the living room to get into the kitchen. The colors for all three rooms were warm shades of tan and a rich mocha. The dining table and chairs were dark wood and the coffee table and end tables in the living room matched. Hard wood floors and cream colored countertops. It was comfortably small and convenient. A soft suede couch and oversized chair faced a fireplace and one wall of the living area was completely windows, looking out over the city. 

She looked back at James who was watching her, “It’s so…” she paused letting out a long breath, “Comfortable here,”

He nodded, looking around, “It’s you’re apartment. Mine’s on this floor too. If you turn left when you get off the elevator, I’m the first door on the left,”

“M-my apartment?”

“Yeah,” he saw her confusion, “If you stay, of course. I think they’re really expecting you to… they want you, I think,”

“Want me? I don’t understand…”

“On the team,” he uncrossed his arms and pushed himself up to sit on the counter, “They haven’t mentioned it… but that’s the feeling I got,”

“Me?” she raised one eyebrow, “An Avenger?”

“Why not?”

“Look around you, James. How many female Avengers are there? Not many. How many black? Even less. We’re in America, James…”

“Maybe that’s just what we need. You are just what we need,”

She scoffed, “But, me? Going to press conferences and meetings? I’ve seen you all on newspapers and magazines. The Avengers are the new celebrity. I’ve seen tabloids of you pumping gas, for Christ sake!” he smirked and she chuckled a little, “Can you imagine the hell PR would be put through with me?”

“Like I said… nothings been mentioned to me officially,” he hopped off the counter, “But you should think about it. It’s not all bad. I seem to remember a time when saving people was all you wanted to do,”

She screwed the lid onto the peanut butter and slid off the counter, “Things change, James,” she said softly. 

He sighed and gestured to the living room, “Want to keep exploring?”

Shaking her head, she moved toward the hallway, “No, I think it’s time to try sleeping again,”

He followed her to her bedroom and she stopped outside the door and turned around to say good night.

“I can still see it, you know?” he said softly, “In your eyes. That need to help, it’s still in there,”

She smiled lovingly, “I’m glad you remember me this time,” 

“What do you mean?”

She stretched up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek, “Nothing. Good night, James,” she closed the door as she disappeared into the darkness of her room, leaving him alone in the hallway again, gently touching the spot where her lips brushed so carefully against his skin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not super proud of this chapter. I feel like its kinda boring, but it sets up her backstory and lets you know a little about her.

The next morning, an intercom voice with a smooth English accent informed Kosey of a meeting she would have with some of the team and staff so she could answer any of their questions. Escorted by three guards and Bucky, she was taken to a room with a huge oval table where she was directed to sit at the head. Luckily, Bucky managed to sit next to her. Looking around the faces she could recognize the main Avengers team along with a few of the trainees and some of the higher level officials. Cross-legged in her chair, she folded her hands and placed them on the table, staring directly across at Nick Fury.

“Miss Kosey,” he started and any small talk ceased, “We will be asking questions and we trust you will answer truthfully,”

“Of course, this is an interrogation. Isn’t truthfulness kind of the point?” she replied.

“Think of it as an interview,”

“Yeah,” she sighed, “Who’s up first?” she leaned back in her seat and looked around the room.

Steve raised his hand a little, “I have a question that’s been nagging at me,” she raised her eyebrows as she waited, “I – uh – how did you manage to walk away from that explosion without injuries?” 

She chuckled, “Oh, I’m not without injury, Capitan,” she looked down at her hands and arms turning them over and back again, “You – you can’t see it – my projections, my… powers, but I can. To me, it is a physical thing, an appendage, a part of me. It’s kind of like a muscle… and right now, I am very injured. Very bruised and torn, but luckily, it was strong enough to protect me,”

Her eye caught Bruce taking notes as quickly as possible, “What are you writing?” she asked softly, leaning forward on the table.

He looked up and stumbled a little, “Uh, notes,”

“You have questions,” her statement wasn’t a question, she could see the endless curiosity in his eyes.

“I have an unbelievable amount of questions,” he replied, “Too many to organize… so I’ll let the others ask for now,”

She smiled at him and nodded.

“So, where is it?” Clint asked, “Your power? Is it inside you or just floating around the room?”

“Right now?” he nodded, “Well, at the moment, and in times when I am generally relaxed, it forms a sort of… aura… around me. Like a barrier or a cocoon,” 

“Are you invincible?” Natasha asked. 

She chuckled, “No. Very much, no.”

“How?” Bucky prompted beside her softly.

“Why? Do you plan to kill me, Barnes?” she joked, “Besides, you already know,” her voice trailed off as they made eye contact, they could see the memory playing in each other’s eyes.

“But they don’t. It can help them protect you… if there ever comes a situation where…”

Kosey nodded, looking back to the table of people, “I am definitely not invincible. I – I try not to, but if I focus all of my projection on one thing… or person… then there is none left to protect my body, leaving me just as vulnerable as an average person,”

Bucky rubbed a hand down his face and fidgeted uncomfortably. The others noticed, of course, but let him be. Her bronze eyes turned to him for a moment.

“Wow,” Tony finally said, “Awkward tension, let’s change subjects!” he leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table to get a better look at her, “What caused that explosion?”

“Me,” she answered simply before elaborating, “I wanted to see – to see how small I could go,” she talked with her hands a lot, cupping her hands over each other as if holding a little ball.

“And?” Tony prodded.

“Um, apparently I can go sub-atomic. I – uh – I had attempted it before… albeit, unsuccessfully. Generally the smallest I go is cellular… but even that’s rare. I can move chairs, tables, large falling building debris, anything inanimate,” she shrugged, “But I can also effect living things; animals, humans, organs…”

“Organs?” Tony was fascinated. 

She smirked, “Yes,” from across the room she pinched shut his trachea, letting him gasp twice as the guards stepped toward her, and then let go, “Yes, organs, Mr. Stark,” 

He coughed and gave her a thumbs up before rasping, “Thanks for the demo,” some at the table looked terrified, others amused. Fury only gave her a warning look that very obviously told her to control herself.

“Miss,” Bruce spoke up through the small commotion and murmurs she had caused, “Barnes mentioned you’ve been this way quite a while,”

“A few thousand years, yes,”

“I was wondering… how?” She watched as he adjusted his glasses and readied his pen.

“Now, that, Dr. Banner, is quite a long story,” she said, running her fingers through the thin braids of her hair causing the gold beads on each to click together.

“We have all the time it takes, Miss Kosey,” Fury prompted. 

“Then I’m going to need a glass of ice water and…” she paused, “Ah, there, some cigarettes,” a box of cigarettes slipped out of Clint’s pocket along with a lighter and slid down the table to her.

He looked at Natasha, terrified, “I – I – I don’t know how those got there… those aren’t mine,”

“You said you would quit!” Natasha punched him in the shoulder.

“Thanks a lot,” He grumbled toward Kosey.

She shrugged and lit one with a smirk before making a displeased face, “Not my favorite, but they’ll do,” one of the guards who escorted her in brought her a glass of water. She nodded thankfully and turned back to the table of people, “Alright, Ladies and gentlemen…”

She took a deep breath from the cigarette and blew the smoke out along the table top. It swirled and began taking shapes, some small people and a few buildings, and played out the story as she spoke.

“I don’t remember much from my previous life,” she began, “But I remember I was sick… very sick,” smoke formed two people, one a female one male, “My husband was relatively powerful in the Egyptian government and took me to every doctor or healer or witch doctor within the empire. None could help. As weeks passed I became increasingly ill, restricted to bed rest, priests came to bless me and my home as they would before the death of a person,” 

Smoke changed to the woman in bed and a different man standing at the foot of the bed, “A man came, a long beard and eyes much too old for his body. He said he was a doctor who specialized in cases like mine. That in the village he was from, people of a certain bloodline were immortal, and that he could help me. I didn’t want to talk without my husband there but the man insisted. He said no one could know, that I could never see my friends or family again. He said that part was a blessing, because watching them grow old and die would be a worse torture than leaving them behind… and I believed him, because I could see that pain in him. He said, were I to accept his help, I would be changed forever and he made me agree to use that change wisely. When I had agreed, because I had tried all other options, he locked us into my sick room. He put a harness around my body to help me stand upright and put tubes in both of my arms and legs as he explained the process. He would rid me of my own blood, and I would be changed. ‘In order to live, you must first die,’ he told me,”

“Was that creepy and ominous back then? Because that’s considered creepy and ominous now,” Clint said. When he interrupted the smoke figures fell and dissipated. 

She chuckled and took another puff of her cigarette, “Yes, that was terrifying and very ‘dark magic’ sounding, but I couldn’t back out, it was my last hope. I lost consciousness, and when I woke he was gone and I was in a bed. I wasn’t home any longer, I didn’t know where I was. Alone in a bright room with a woman who looked just as I do now, same cat eyes and clawed fingers. She told me it was done. I would live. When I asked what I was supposed to do she told me she couldn’t spoil the surprise, but that I would be happy so long as I ‘find and follow the flame of my soul and protect that flame,’ I had no idea what that meant for the longest time,”

“But you do now?” Steve spoke up, curious to the answer.

“I do,” she smiled warmly before whispering, “But I can’t spoil the surprise,”

“So,” Tony drew out the word, “You woke up with weird eyes and could move things and had fire in you?”

Kosey laughed brightly, “Yes and no. The fire is not within me,” she paused to think, taking a pull of the cigarette and blowing it into the air. The cloud separated into small spheres that then formed into butterflies, “It’s difficult to explain. It’s the ‘flame of my soul’ not ‘flame in my soul’, which is what confused me for so many hundreds of years. The flame is not with me. But with anoth – with others, and that’s part of the protection bit. When I figured that much out, I began training my abilities to help others instead of myself. That’s what put me on the path to my flame, and I found them – I, uh, found it,” she cleared her throat uncomfortably and quickly finished with, “And I’ve been following my flame ever since,” she took a drink of water.

After a beat of silence, Sam Wilson, who had been silent and observant the entire time, spoke up, “Well, that’s some freaky voodoo, shit,”

It brightened the mood that was slowly turning ominous and made her laugh, “It is, I agree,”

“The smoke thing is cool though,” he added.

“Yeah, it makes for a good bar trick,”

“That was a lovely, very theatric story… but it doesn’t really tell us what you are,” Natasha said.

Kosey stamped out her cigarette on her coaster, “The woman who was there when I woke up told me I was a warrior now. For Sekhmet, the war goddess. The lion goddess. Which explains,” she pointed at her eyes, “I was able to find the village of women like me… but I never found the man that helped me,”

Bruce spoke up again, “So, is that all you can do? Move things and occasionally blow up?”

“Generally, yeah. I mean, I can use it on myself too,” Tony opened his mouth to either ask for an explanation or say something inappropriate, so she spoke first, “I can fly… carry myself, really. Long distances are possible but exhausting. But just floating instead of walking actually seems to use less energy,”

She wasn’t sure, but she thought she heard Clint whisper, “Fuckin awesome,”

“Our footage has you in Chicago eight months ago, and the explosion was in Nevada,” Fury said, “Where else have you been all this time?”

“Uh,” she fidgeted while thinking back, “Well, Dallas back in ’63. Los Angeles. Paris. Long Island ‘91… anyway, more recently; Iran 2009… New York a few years back. After that, D.C.; Floated around a little more after that… now I’m here,”

Natasha’s eyes narrowed and Bucky’s eyebrows pulled together as he stared at his hands. Fury only raised his eyebrows.

“Figured the past fifty or so years would only be the relevant parts…” she muttered as her eyes swept the room of faces.

“It’s good enough,” Fury assured her.

It was relatively quiet for a while, only staff making quick notes and small discussions spread throughout the group. Her doctor from the day before walked up beside her with a frightened looking nurse.

“Miss, we’re going to take a few more vials of blood,” He informed her.

“You took a ton yesterday?” she questioned.

“That was preliminary drug and wellness testing, these will be used for genetic research and genome sequencing,” The doctor explained, “I would appreciate if we do not have a repeat of yesterday,”

The day before she had bent a few needles as they tried to pierce through her skin, just a protective impulse, but it became annoying after the third try.

“Yeah, I just… I need something to focus on while I pull it away from my arm,” she said as she looked around the room. Her eyes landed on Bucky sitting to her left, “Talk to me?” she asked softly.

“About what?”

“Anything. Life now, here,” she pleaded. It’s not that needles scared her or anything. It was just difficult to let her guard down like that sometimes. And being in a new place with so many strangers was definitely enough of a stress.

Holding her right arm out to the doctor, she kept her eyes on Bucky as he spoke. She didn’t listen so much as watch him. His eyes as they looked her over and the way his lips moved. His eyes mostly, beautiful and blue and drowning in emotion. The way he looked back and forth between her eyes and her lips as a soft smile rested on her face. He didn’t know until he saw it again how much he had missed that smile.

“All done,” he told her.

She glanced down at her arm as it was being bandaged and looked back, drawn back to his eyes, “Thank you, James,”

She looked across the table to Fury, who had been watching her and taking in her interaction with the doctor and with Bucky, “Well, this has been a blast, but I’m starting to miss the crushing boredom of my lock-down,”

“Based on the recommendation from Barnes, you are being released from the probationary period in about four hours,” Fury responded, “On the condition of good behavior. Don’t push your luck, Miss Kosey, your attitude could get you into trouble,”

“So I’ve been told,” she laughed and stood up with her guards doing the same, “If anyone has more questions or anything… you know where I’ll be,”

Her escorts took her to the elevator and Natasha came up, telling the officers to leave and that she would take Kosey the rest of the way. Once inside the elevator, Natasha turned to her.

“You were there,” she said, “You were there, in 2009 and you let him shoot me,”

“I… I had to. You wouldn’t understand. I couldn’t stop him. He couldn’t know,”

“So you were just gunna let me bleed out?” Natasha accused.

“Please, you weren’t going to bleed out. I made sure of that much,”

Natasha’s face of anger went slack, “The bullet… the doctors said the entry and exit wound didn’t make sense. The bullet path curved to the side and back again…”

“Missed your abdominal aorta,” Kosey replied.

“You… warped the path,”

Kosey only nodded, looking away and down.

“It got passed some of them, but not all,” Nat informed her, “You’ve been everywhere he has for the past fifty years. No one really knows his exact assassination history… but you seem pretty well versed,”

Again, only a nod was her response as the elevator stopped at the apartment floor, “I’m sorry I couldn’t help you more…” she whispered before disappearing down the hall to her room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry its been a little while. I got stuck. I have like five one-shots running around my brain that im trying to write and get out of the way.

~~~~~ Kosey 1st person pov~~~~~

Once inside my apartment with the door locked I flopped into the plush oversized chair before sending my projection down the hall like an arm. I felt around the bedroom before grabbing what I was looking for. The wisps of my power brought me the thin gold tube and laid it in my hand. I had taken to smoking a vapor pen when they became popular. I enjoyed the variety of flavors and the smooth feeling down my throat. They smelled much better as well. I curled my legs underneath me as I stared out the large windows that the chair faced.

I leaned over to pull the thick knitted blanket off of the couch and laid it over my lap as I looked out over the city. It was a beautiful day, with large clouds floating through the sky and the soft light of the autumn sun.

“Jarvis?” I spoke quietly in the silence. 

“Yes, Miss?” the smooth voice almost didn’t sound like speakers, but like someone actually in the room. I really enjoyed the voice.

“Can you tint the windows slightly… so it’s not so bright in here?”

The windows darkened a few shades, “Better?”

“Much. Thank you, Jarvis,”

“My pleasure, Miss,”

I smiled. Even though I wasn’t sure the A.I. could even see me. Resting my cheek on the silky suede of   
the cushions, I watched the city pass outside my window. Thousands of lives, going about their day. Running errands. Worrying about a test. Stress of their job. Counting the minutes till they go home to their loved ones.

The last time I was normal was fifty years ago. It felt longer though. James and I lived a normal life for almost eight years before the past caught up. We hid out on a little island in the Philippines. The local town there accepted us fairly quickly, once it became clear that we weren’t just tourists. A little house on the beach, secluded from the others, hidden back in the tree line. It was beautiful.

With high-quality matte car paint we covered his arm in a flesh tone as close to his own as we could. It worked well enough to keep attention away from it. We paid for everything in cash. Let’s just say, before I decided to use my gifts to help others… I got really good at helping myself. I had gathered more than enough money over the years.

I had already bought the home before I saved him. A safehouse for myself. He definitely didn’t fully trust me the first few months, but he was grateful for my help. 

I drifted to sleep in the chair while thinking about times gone by. Eventually I was pulled out of my sleep by soft chiming bells and a gentle voice.

“Miss, you have a visitor at your door,” Jarvis informed me.

“Who,” I mumbled, still in a dreamy haze.

“It’s Sargent Barnes, ma’am,”

“Oh, let him in,” I yawned and stretched as I listened to the door open and close again before his footsteps came down the hall.

He came in wearing jeans and one of those long-sleeved shirts with three or four buttons at the top. A Henley, I believe. The sleeves pushed up to his elbows and his hands in his pockets. This century certainly looked good on him. After looking over my cozy position he raised his eyebrows and started apologizing. 

“Were you sleeping? I can go,”

“It’s fine. Wasn’t really a dream I’m eager to go back to,” I sat up a little straighter as he sat on the couch near me.

“Wanna talk about it?”

“Not particularly,” he chuckled lightly, leaning his elbow on the armrest, his left hand only a foot away. I could practically reach out and…

“What are you doing napping in the middle of the day?” he asked.

I stifled another yawn, “You know, from an evolutionary standpoint, napping makes sense. Generally mid-day is when your body gets sleepy and wants a nap. It is hottest mid-day, so sleeping would mean finding a cool, safe place. And when you sleep your heart slows and your core temperature drops,” he only raised one eyebrow with an amused smile as I babbled sleepily, “Also, there have been studies suggesting multiple 3-4 hour sleep cycles help brain function,”

“So, evolution made you nap?” 

“… No,” I rested my cheek on the cushion again, closing my eyes, “Just wanted to get away from my thoughts for a while,”

“How’d that work out?”

“Not so well actually. Turns out they might be right about dreams mirroring the stress of the day,”

I felt something smooth curl around my hand, but I kept my eyes shut in case it wasn’t what I hoped, “I wish they would have waited a little longer… or not dropped it on you all at once,” James said softly.

I opened my eyes to see his solid steel hand wound gently around mine, “I’ll be fine,”

I didn’t move to take my hand away, simply shifted my focus to look out the window past him. The sun had slipped lower in the sky, bobbing through the clouds. He followed my line of sight and stared out the window with me for a while. He didn’t take his hand away from mine.

“You have a better view than me, I can’t see the sunset on the other side,”

“You get the sunrise though. Start of a new day. A symbol of hope,”

“Not so much when you wanna sleep in late,” he smiled and I chuckled a little.

We were quiet again, enjoying each other’s company. Looking at him, I knew he was deep in thought, eyebrows pulled together. 

“What is it?” I asked gently.

“I… I thought you were dead,” he muttered, his voice was thick with emotion and he wouldn’t look at me at first, “And all this time… all this time you’ve been following me. I would catch a glimpse of someone who looked like you… I guess it might have been you… and it shook me out of the haze they had me in,”

When he finally looked up at me I shrugged, “Looking after my flame,”

He grinned slightly and squeezing my hand a little tighter in his. It felt like no time had passed at all, like we were back in the Philippines hiding from the world. He leaned forward and kissed the back of my hand before whispering against my skin.

“You were the first thing I remembered clearly,” 

It was my turn for my eyebrows to pull together, “Really? What’d you remember?”

He only nodded at first, still holding my hand to his lips, “It was your touch. Your skin against mine. The smell of your hair. Your fingers in my hair and down my back. Your eyes staring into mine like they would never see anything again. The way you looked right into me. The way you touched my soul,”

I couldn’t handle the distance anymore. I climbed into his lap, my knees on either side of his hips as his hands stroked up and down my sides. He buried his face in my hair and touched his lips to my neck softly as he kept talking.

“My hands on your skin. My body above yours,” he pressed his lips more firmly to my neck, kissing down to my shoulder, “My lips learning every inch of you,” 

“God dammit,” I groaned as I curled my fingers in his hair, bringing his lips to mine and kissing him with everything I had. Fifty years of kisses to catch up on. His lips danced on mine as smoothly as ever. So many years remembering the sensation in my mind were nothing compared to having it back.

He pulled my hips closer, holding my body tightly against his. The heat of his touch made my body sing. The frequency of my cells harmonizing with his. An orchestra of passion and adoration. That’s always how he made love to me, adoring every part of me that he could touch. Setting me on fire from the inside out. My lungs burned with the need to breathe his air. My heart throbbed with the need to hold him closer, no matter how tightly we held each other, and it was never close enough. Every nerve in my body begging for his touch. The more I had of him, the more I wanted. The most addictive drug in the world was loving him. Everything I needed and I could never get enough, always wanted more… never wanting it to end. I lost myself in him, I was no longer a separate being… neither of us were. I would forever have a solid steel imprint on my heart just like he had feline claw marks on his. We weren’t our own, we were each other’s. 

His fingers clawed longingly at my shirt and I pulled it over my head as fast as my body would let me, discarding it wherever fate would have it land, I couldn’t care less. He mimicked me and took his shirt off, dropping it somewhere on the floor. I trailed my hands down his chest, lightly pressing my pointed nails into his skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He shivered, letting his head fall back against the couch with a breathy moan. Bukcy’s lips had done all the wandering up until then, so I seized my moment and trailed my mouth down his throat. 

“Wait,” he rasped after a moment.

I leaned back, looking down at him in confusion only to see him staring at me fondly. His thumbs traced slow circles on my hip bones as his sky colored eyes looked over my body, memorizing every curve and shadow. 

I pulled my hands through my hair, holding it up as I twisted in a little dance on his lap, “Like what you see?” I giggled.

He smiled and trailed his hands over my skin. His left hand was never cold, liked you’d expect from metal. It was warm, from the circuits and motors that made it move so fluidly. Sure, every now and then it would be cooler, like in the morning when it hadn’t been moving in a while, but it never felt icy against me. His face turned more serious as he supported my back to lean me further and he placed soft kisses on my collar bones.

“I just don’t wanna forget again,” he mumbled, hiding his face as he kissed my shoulder.

I smoothed his hair and tilted his face up to mine, “Never again,” I whispered as I kissed him, “They’d have to kill me first,” I smiled softly, but his face turned troubled as his fingers danced along a faded scar on my stomach.

“They already tried,” his voice was hoarse and his eyes followed along the other scars that littered my abdomen. 

I didn’t have a response for that. It was true. Hydra found us and almost killed me to get to him. He stared at me a while longer before shifting to lay down on the couch with me still on top of him. Pulling me down gently, I tucked my head under his chin and my fingers traced shaped idly on his chest. He twirled some of my tiny braids in his fingers, making the gold tipped ends chime together.

“Just wanna hold you a while,” he explained in a tired voice, “You don’t know how much I’ve missed you, Koe,”

“I think have an idea,” I purred against his throat as his hands drew up and down my exposed back.

We fell asleep that way, skin to skin. Each other’s heat keeping us warm. Wrapped in the comfort we had been longing for so many years. Occasionally he would twitch or grunt in his sleep, just like I remembered, and it would wake me long enough to smile at his peacefulness before being pulled back to sleep by the sound of his heartbeat. I would stay that way forever if given the chance. I told him I’d changed, but I lied. He was everything I still loved in the world… and he knew it.

We stayed that way as long as we could before being startled away by thundering knocks on the door at almost three in the morning.

“Hey, tiger! Are you holding frosty hostage in there?” Tony yelled from the door.

“No!” James shouted sarcastically in a groggy voice.

“Mission came up! We’re wheels up in an hour!” Tony replied, “Bring the kitten!”

We both groaned, me hiding my face in his neck and hair, him throwing his arm over his face while mumbling something in Russian along the lines of, ‘I’d kill him if Pepper wouldn’t kill me back.’

“Why do they need me to come?” I whined, “Don’t they know cats need a lot of sleep?”

Bucky’s chest rumbled with laughter beneath my ear, “I don’t know, you can nap on the jet. I’ll even offer my services as a pillow,”

I rolled off of him and handed him his shirt, which he pulled on as he stood up, running his fingers through his crazy sleep hair.

“I gotta go suit up,” he mumbled, wrapping his arms around my waist, “I think you’ve got a few generic field uniforms in the closet. Pack a back-up in your go-bag if you haven’t already,” I only nodded, kissing his cheek before we both went different directions.


	5. Chapter 5

Once we were all loaded onto the quinjet, Captain America gave us the run down on what was happening. It was very strange for me. I wasn’t an Avenger… was I?

“A Hydra cell has taken a city and is holding the citizens and officials hostage. They want us, so they’re gunna get us,” Steve explained.

I raised my hand and he looked over at me with a sigh before nodding for me to speak, “Uh, why am I here? I’m not ‘us’…”

“Fury wants to see how you work with a team, seeing as you’ve got battle experience he opted to forgo training for now. Trust me, I’m not thrilled either. We don’t need a rookie to look out for… but I guess this is as good a mission as any to start out on. Should be a quick in and out,” Tony replied. Apparently everyone was apprehensive about my sudden integration into the team.

“Don’t worry about me,” I grumbled, “If this is a test to see if I’m ‘battle ready’ then I don’t want any of you to treat me special. Business as usual,”

“Deal,” Clint groaned, “It’s too early for extra shit,”

I grunted in agreement and leaned against James with a sigh. He shifted toward me a little so my head was nestled in the crook of his neck. His hand twirled the ends of my hair that I had put up in a high ponytail. 

“You gunna take me up on my pillow offer?” he asked softly.

“Probably can’t sleep,”

He sighed, “Back in the thick of it. Ready to get to work?”

“Sure,” he laughed at my indifferent tone, “They don’t trust me,” I whispered.

“They don’t know you. They don’t know how you work,” he explained, “They’ll see,”

I only sighed and we were quiet the rest of the flight. I watched as Natasha and Clint spoke quietly to each other, there was more said in their nonverbal communication, though. Sharing looks and speaking with their eyes. Steve sat and chatted with Bucky for a while before he took over flying for Tony and Tony went to talk with Bruce. I gathered that Thor was away in Asguard, which could be part of why Fury wanted me to tag along. It never hurt to have another hand. And even with my invisible ‘hands’ still a little banged up, I was more than happy to help.

As if he knew what I was thinking James asked, “Are you healed enough for this?”

I waved him off, “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I just couldn’t stretch it as far as normal, it would be fine. In and out, easy as pie.

We were jumping from altitude along with a small team of field operatives. At the open back exit, Steve and James stood side by side as they turned to face the rest of the team still in the jet. Steve gave a two fingered salute and James only smirked as they fell backward out of the jet. 

“Did they have ‘chutes?” a younger agent asked, horrified.

“Nope,” I said shaking my head and making my way to the exit, “Which is why I have to go save their asses now,” And with that I jumped.

~~~Quick 3rd person~~~

The young agent looked even more terrified, “She didn’t have one either!”

“You must be new,” Natasha laughed as she jumped, with a parachute.

Clint stood at the edge before turning back to address the agent, “Get used to it, kid, you’re in the world of gods and monsters, now,” and with that he fell, followed by the agents who didn’t hesitate… then the ones who did.

~~~ back to Kosey~~~

I could see the men falling so I pointed my body head first and fell faster, zipping past them in a rush of wind. I stopped only a few feet above the ground and turned up just in time to catch them with my powers and lower them to earth.

“Good catch,” James smiled up at me as I slowly lowered myself to stand between them.

“So, where do we…” I was about to finish my question when we were showered with gunshots. Steve held his shield in front of himself as I threw my projection as a wall in front of James and myself, “Start!” I finished quickly.

My eyes searched the tree line to find the source. Three machine gunners hidden in the trees, “Ten, three, and four!” I called out locations above the noise. Steve turned slightly left, throwing his shield and nailing the guy in the neck, more than likely crushing his trachea. James turned right and with chilling precision shot the man between the eyes as I reached out and crushed the third’s skull. It all happened in less than three seconds.

“Gentlemen, let’s get to work,” I announced as I headed into the trees toward where the intel said the bunker was. The plan: take out the bunker- their main source of calling for back up, then work on getting the city back.

“Who’s on bunker duty?” I asked, knowing whoever was heading to the city needed to steer slightly right through the woods.

“Got it,” Natasha and Clint both came over the in-ear communication. 

“City’s surrounded… gets thicker toward the parliament building,” Tony informed us from the sky in his suit, “I’m going to try to thin them out,”

“On the ground in two,” I announced as I lifted my feet off of the ground and flew through the trees, weaving in and out of branches. I stopped behind a group of men who seemed to be on alert, about a dozen of them.

“How’s it goin’ fellas?” they all spun to face me and started shooting. I deflected the bullets at angles to shoot the others, they were all down in ten seconds, “Bad day, I take it,”

Cap and James were close behind me, must have ran to keep up. Punching and frizbee-ing their way through Hydra agents. When I saw an agent come right up behind Steve I sent a projection out and smashed the man’s head like and egg in a fist. Steve must have heard the crack because he turned sharply, taking in the man before looking at me dumbfounded, then we nodded at each other and went back to work. An arrow embedded into the man beside me with the sick sound of tearing flesh.

“We’re here,” Nat said in the communicator. 

“Can’t believe you started without us!” Clint complained as he fired an arrow that split into five mid-air and took out five different targets.

“Rookie got excited,” Steve quipped.

I tore a guy from behind Nat and threw him into a wall with deadly force, “God, I hope that nickname doesn’t last,”

A repulsor beam knocked a guy out of my way as I snapped another’s neck, “I don’t know, I’m likin’ kitten,” Tony joined in.

I gave a dry, humorless laugh as I ripped an operative that was hanging off of Ironman’s leg.

“Tony,” James laughed into his com, “If you wanna keep your face, I wouldn’t call her that,” he expertly shot two bullets past my ear to hit someone behind me, “Just from personal experience, it isn’t worth it,” he winked at me.

“Noted,” Tony bounced a beam off of Steve’s shield taking out three in a stream of power, “Now, all of you, quit slacking,”

We fought our way into the city and James, Clint, and I stayed outside the building fighting as the others went into the parliament building to do some heroics. James and Clint were close together beside a building, taking out enemies left and right, but when I glanced over again I saw the top of the building start to crumble. They hadn’t noticed yet. Without a second thought, I threw all of my projection over to shield them from the ruble. When the dust cleared they both looked up at me, shocked. But not nearly as shocked as I was when two bullets hit me, one in the left shoulder, and the other in my right abdomen.

“Shit,” I grumbled, pressing my hand into my side as my powers came back around me in a bubble.

“Koe’s hit!” Clint alerted the others.

“You alright?” James asked in the com, not close enough to hear in person.

“Well, it doesn’t fuckin’ tickle, if that’s what you’re asking,” I snapped, “Back to work, I’m fine,” I was angry with myself. I moved my hand to look at the blood on my fingers and started fighting with all the rage I had toward myself. My weakness was other’s, always had been.

The parliament steps were quiet and I looked to see James and Clint still standing in the ruble, looking at me at the top of the steps, surrounded by shredded bodies.

“I definitely see the lion thing now,” Tony said.

“Inside’s secure, get her to the jet,” Steve said over the com.

“I said I’m fine,”

“I can see you bleeding from here,” Nat said dryly, they were on the roof where the jet was landing.

Bucky ran up beside me, looking terrified.

“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” I whispered to him with a smile. He pulled my arm around his shoulders and helped me up the flights of stairs as fast as he could with Clint watching our backs.

“Clear from the sky,” Tony announced, “Take off in 20 sconds,”

I hobbled onto the jet just in time to sit down before we took off. I had been holding my hand over my stomach wound on the way up the steps, so when I sat I moved it to look at the damage. Entry wounds were never the worst part so I turned my back to James.

“Exit?”

“Yeah, both through and through,” he shifted some of the fabric around and I hissed through my teeth, “Abdomens pretty rough back here, how’s the front?”

“Not horrible. Just a scratch,”

He scoffed and kissed the top of my head, “We’ll get you cleaned up and back to the tower,”

Nat sat on my other side, helping me pull the shirt over my head, “Not bad for your first day at work, huh?” I laughed a little before wincing at the pain.

Bruce sat across from us on the other row of seats, “You know,” he started, “I did some research on Sekhmet. She’s the one that went crazy with blood lust and the only way to stop her was to spike the blood she was drinking until she was drunk enough to pass out,”

“Sounds about right,” James laughed and I elbowed him.

“Who’s getting drunk without me?” Tony asked as he came back to the cabin area.

“Apparently that’s how we stop Kosey if she gets too crazy,” Clint caught Tony up on the conversation.

“My kind of girl!” Tony clearly approved.

I knew they were trying to distract me while Nat cleaned my wounds, and it worked a little, but I was very focused on her work. Quick and concise. 

“Does this mean I get my own super hero outfit like Nat’s?” I asked.

“And a super hero name!” Clint pointed out, “I was thinking ‘Feral’?”

“Or ‘Wild Cat’?” Bruce offered.

“Get your head in the game!” Tony quoted High School Musical and I looked at him with a mixture of amusement and disappointment.

“Yeah, so, Wild Cat is out…” I laughed.

“Uh, no,” Tony corrected, “I think that means you have to pick it,”

“Doesn’t press usually pick your names?”

“Not mine,” rang through the group from Bucky, Nat, and Clint.

“Yeah, but you didn’t pick them either,” I pointed out.

“I had some input,” Clint interjected. 

“And you picked ‘Hawk Guy’? What? Did you have a thing for birds?” Tony teased.

“Hawkeye.” He stressed.

They started bickering so I went back to watching Nat work on my shoulder now.

“I like Feral,” she said, “And I can help you design your suit if you want?”

I smiled brightly, “Thanks… that… that’d be awesome,”

“It’s the least I can do… since,” she tilted her head toward Clint. She was thanking me for saving him.

The whole ride back I got the vibe that I’d been accepted into the group. Everyone was a little banged up, bruises and scratches here and there, but I was the only one shot. By the time we landed, Natasha had two stitches in the exit wounds of each bullet wound and glued the entry wounds, “Less scaring, faster healing,” she said. 

We talked about names, “You could just go with ‘Wild’ and drop the cat part?” she suggested.

“Tony’s never gunna drop that ‘High School Musical’ thing, is he?”

“Probably not,” she agreed.

“Definitely not,” Bucky said behind me, I was using him as a backrest as I faced Nat.

We tossed different synonyms for ‘Wild’ and ‘Feral’ around… but didn’t find anything that seemed to stand above either of them.

“So, does this mean I’m an Avenger?” I asked her quietly, the men were all talking too intensely about something to listen to us.

“I think you have been since you walked in the door and scared the shit out of Steve,”

Apparently he had been eavesdropping, “In my defense, I had just watched footage of her killing someone with her brain and then exploding,”

“She has that effect on people,” Bucky laughed… I elbowed him again and he muttered something about being abused.

“What I mean is,” Natasha continued, “I think the job is yours if you want it,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any super hero name suggestions?!?!


End file.
